Some Recommended Reading

My secret side job isn’t much of a secret anymore, so I guess I’ll shrug one shoulder out of my shroud of mystery and write this post.

I’ve been doing freelance copyediting in various forms for years now. Editor Brain, which is was I call the jerk part of me that irrationally assigned itself Guardian of the Oxford Comma, can’t help it. I once replied to a Craigslist job post to tell them that their spelling was atrocious and they should try again. (I was maybe a little bitter about job hunting in those days.)

I’ve been giving blog posts and resumes and short stories a once-over for friends most of my life, but then I started writing books. I made many more writer friends.

Many. Many. More.

And they all needed an editor. (Everyone does. Don’t kid yourself.)

At first, I only did free work for close friends who couldn’t afford market rates. Even when I started charging, I did so minimally and with the understanding that I could provide improvement but probably not perfection. The more work I did, though, the better I became. I also acquired a small reference section just for the job.

Truth is, I memorized three of these a long time ago. But they look nice on my desk.

Word got around that I was reasonably competent. Work rolled in. I’ve done countless short stories and blog posts this year, as well as two full novels. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve gotten to pass that information on to people who find it useful. Somehow, I even made enough money to make taxes a further pain in the ass.

So, I guess I’m a freelance copyeditor now. Whoops.

The fun part is that I get to see projects before anyone else knows they exist.

I know something you don’t know. *Phhhhht*

But I’m going to be nice and tell you about some cool stuff you can see soon.

First up, an anthology that I not only edited but also wrote for, Unburied Fables. This project by Creative Aces Publishing is a collection of wonderfully queer fairy tale retellings. I won’t spoil any of them for you, but they’re brilliant.

Next let’s talk about RoAnna Sylver. She’s relaunching her book Chameleon Moon with some celebratory short stories. I got a sneak peek at those stories while editing, and they are certified Full of Feelings. Keep an eye out for them.

I would also like to point you in the direction Mari Kurisato, whose short story “Impostor Syndrome” now appears in Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time. I honestly did very little work on this story, but it was great before and it’s great now.

Most recently, I worked with Kate Fitzpatrick, who will hopefully forgive me for anything that got lost in translation between her Australian English writing and my American English editing. She’s got a hell of a manuscript. When it finds a publisher, I’ll be gleefully spamming you all with the release date.

That’s all for now, folks. I’ll keep you posted on anything I think you’ll want to see.